This week, we present Part 2 of Rachel’s interview Jenifer Eaton & Marya Hoff, two BCBAs who own Rooted in Play (rootedinplay.co), an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) practice in Orange County, California. This week, Rachel, Jenifer, and Marya discuss dealing with rigid ABA therapists, why Jenifer and Marya’s ABA practice is different than some older methods, their thoughts on anti-ABA sentiments from some Autistic adults, and more!
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss the recent release of the Matrix Revolutions movie, and some of the things from the movie that reminded Chris of AAC implementation. This includes the idea that we don’t need to “ask permission” to pursue better practices around AAC, (e.g., providing robust language systems), in many cases we can start putting them into our own practice right away.
Key ideas this week:
🔑 Response effort - the harder something is, the more response effort it requires. The easier it is, the less response effort required. Once we have learned a skill, it takes less response effort. When teaching something new to a child, you want to minimize the response effort. If we put too much response effort into a task, the person won’t want to continue doing the task.
🔑 While there are rigid ABA practitioners out there, there is a newer, more naturalistic, and more collaborative approach for ABA. Under the old approach, there is less room for generalization and socialization. We aren’t teaching kids just to respond, we need them to be more spontaneous.
🔑 If you are dealing with a less collaborative BCBA who has a much different perspective on how to approach working with a student, you can always say “Lets do it your way for 2 weeks and then my way for 2 weeks and then look at the numbers.” You can also approach the parent for help - show them different approaches for ABA, they may not know the different approaches out there. BCBAs should be able to figure out how to make their program BA in nature while also accommodating the needs of speech and OT.
🔑 If you experience a BCBA engaging in unethical practices, you can report them to their governing board. Find out more at https://www.bacb.com/ethics-information/reporting-to-ethics-department/
Links this week:
Sign up for 7-day free trial from Vooks: www.vooks.com
Vooks on Apple App Store
Vooks on Google Play Store
Vooks Mentioned by Rachel & Chris:
Stop & Go - https://watch.vooks.com/videos/stop-and-go
Benji, the Bad Day, and Me: https://watch.vooks.com/videos/benji-the-bad-day-and-me
Rachel Dorsey Podcast: https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/rachel-dorsey-2
Jennifer Hyles: Creating Materials That Better Reflect AAC Users
Dr. Laura Clarke: Free Literacy Resources for Emerging Readers
Chloe Rothschild: Teacher, Author, Advocate, and Part-Time AAC User
TWT Live: Colorado’s SWAAAC
Brian Schobel - Supporting Assistive Technology During the Transition to Employment
Chris Klein and Lance McLemore: Creating an AAC-User-Led Conference & Nonprofit
Marge Blanc & Alexandria Zachos (Part 2): Supporting Gestalt Language Processing With AAC
Marge Blanc & Alexandria Zachos (Part 1): Supporting Students with Echolalia Using the Natural Language Acquisition Framework
Becca Eisenberg: Using Video Modeling to Teach AAC Communication Skills
Dr. Cheri Dodge Chin: Teaching Caregivers to Model via Video Chat
Joanna Holmes (Part 2): The Benefits of Open AAC
Joanna Holmes (Part 1): Finding the Right AAC Access Method for your Child
AACessible: Improving AAC Assessment and Trialing
Daniel Parker, Kathy White, & Stacy Duffy: Assistive Technology Microcredentials
Hank Poore: AAC User, AAC Ambassador, and Foundation Director
Ken Hackbarth, Christine Baudin, and Michael Dicpinigaitis: Using 3D Printers to Make Inexpensive AAC Keyguards
Gemma White: Teaching Personal Safety Awareness to AAC Users
Tami Altschuler - Improving AAC Access and Training in the Hospital
TWT Live from Oregon (Part 2): Getting Buy-In from Teachers who Refuse to Support AAC
TWT Live from Oregon (Part 1): Strategies for Improving Virtual Assessments
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